Giants call up Nate Furman, place Jesús Rodríguez on the IL

For the last week or so, one of the questions surrounding the San Francisco Giants is what they would do at second base for the rest of the year. All-Star Luis Arráez will almost certainly be traded ahead of Monday’s deadline, and his logical replacement, Casey Schmitt, is out for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.

Saturday’s roster moves may not reveal the team’s long-term plans at the position, but they certainly clarify some short-term questions. Before their game against the San Diego Padres — the penultimate game before the deadline — the Giants announced that second baseman Nate Furman had his contract purchased from AAA debut, and will head to the Majors for the first time.

That certainly means that Furman will be the immediate fill-in following an inevitable Arráez trade, but it doesn’t actually tell us if that was the team’s first choice. The other logical solution to play second in August and September is utility player Jesús Rodríguez … and he’s the corresponding move to the Furman call up, as the rookie was placed on the 10-Day Injured List with right elbow neuritis.

Furman has a lot of the same traits that drew the Giants to Arráez, the person he’ll soon replace (for a little while, at least). While lacking in power, the lefty — who turned 25 about a week ago — is a contact maven. He hit .284 in AAA this year, and has a career .289 batting average in his four-year Minor League career. Furman has just a 12.4% strikeout rate and a 4.1% swinging strike rate, the latter of which is third-lowest among 145 qualified AAA hitters this season. He has a .775 OPS and a 107 wRC+ with Sacramento this year.

Like Arráez, Furman heads to San Francisco with a less-than-stellar defensive reputation. If he can make the gains that Arráez did with Ron Washington, that will go a long way towards determining whether he can have a successful MLB career, or if he’s just up for a cup of coffee. He also has, for now, limited defensive versatility: while Furman played some third base when he first entered the Minors, he’s been exclusively a second baseman for the last two seasons.

Furman, who was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training this year, was a fourth-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians. He was traded to the Giants as the Player to Be Named Later in the 2024 Alex Cobb deal, along with Jacob Bresnahan, one of the top pitching prospects in the organization. That trade is looking pretty darn good for the Giants right about now!

As for Rodríguez, who mostly played catcher this year but has played some second base and outfield, hopefully his IL stint is a short one. He’s hit .235/.316/.412 for a .728 OPS and a 104 wRC+ through 58 plate appearances in his debut season.